Jazz with Hudson: A guardrail groove, songs that swing

The jazz ensemble Hudson will perform Oct. 4 at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie. Hudson features John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, John Medeski and Larry Grenadier. Video by John W. Barry/Poughkeepsie Journal.
Wochit

The name of this jazz ensemble pays tribute to the river that defines a region, provides a sweeping identity to countless communities and continues to inspire artists and musicians over centuries.

The band is Hudson. Three members – drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist and keyboard player John Medeski and bass player Larry Grenadier - live in Ulster County. Guitarist John Scofield lives in Westchester County.

All four share an affinity for the Hudson River, which shapes this valley, serves as a catalyst for commerce and plays a pivotal role in the lives of millions of people. And all four will be in Poughkeepsie on Oct. 4, when Hudson performs at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House.

The boundaries of jazz will be stretched wide. The caliber of musicianship will be high.

“They’re all very individual, unique players, but they’re all so generous in terms of sharing music,” said Mark Dziuba, a guitarist, composer and the director of the Jazz Studies Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Dziuba has taught with Scofield at the National Guitar Summer Workshop in Connecticut and the pair also played a couple of tunes together.

“These guys are all so in tune with whoever they play with. That’s the greatest thing they have to offer. They make music with others in the most honest and expressive way.”

Scofield and DeJohnette performed with jazz legend Miles Davis. Medeski is well known for the improvisational trio Medeski, Martin & Wood. And Grenadier has worked extensively with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.

The four musicians played together in various settings over years but came together as a quartet for the Woodstock Jazz Festival in 2014. That led to the 2017 release of their self-titled CD. And it all comes as DeJohnette celebrates his 75th birthday in 2017.

“We had to think of a name,” Scofield, who has performed at the Mountain Jam music festival, told the Journal. “And we thought, ‘Why not?’” We called it Hudson since we live here.”

Scratch the surface with Hudson and you will learn plenty about the manner in which the Hudson Valley inspired this initiative. The band’s CD cover features a photograph of the Catskill Mountains and songs on the record draw heavily on the regional artistic well.

There is a song called “Hudson." The group performs their own versions of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall“ and “Lay, Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan; “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell; “Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band;” and “Wait Until Tomorrow” by Jimi Hendrix.

Dylan and the members of The Band are all former Town of Woodstock residents. Mitchell was inspired to write “Woodstock” by the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in August 1969. And Hendrix delivered a show-stopping performance at the Woodstock festival.

Asked about inspiration, though, Scofield told the Journal, that, “instrumental music kind of just exists on its own plane.”

He continued, “When people say, ‘I wrote this one and it’s about the sunrise,’ I’m not so sure that I believe in that. But that being said, your surroundings affect what comes out of you - and it has to, in ways we don’t even understand.”

Speaking of himself and his fellow Hudson members, Scofield said, “The fact that, as musicians and as human beings we’ve all chosen to live and to get away from the city in nature, I can feel it.”

But, he added, “I hesitate to say that my music is about anything, because it’s not. It’s music. It’s about itself.”

The jazz that Hudson generates swings. Things stay loose. But this band at the same time drives tent stakes into the soil, which hold everything together. And a guardrail groove offers clear direction.

Scofield said each of his band mates is a “virtuoso.”

Jack DeJohnette(Photo: James Adams/Courtesy photo)

Of DeJohnette, he said, “Jack is one of the greatest drummers who’s ever lived.”

Speaking of Medeski, Scofield said, “John is an incredible jazz pianist but he is also very committed to electronic instruments and sonics and making this incredible palette of sound. He really is a painter with his instruments.”

And Scofield described Grenadier as “One of the greatest upright bass players in the world - period.”

Information: Tickets can be purchased in person at the Bardavon box office, 35 Market St., Poughkeepsie, which can be reached at 845-473-2072; and through Ticketmaster, which can be reached through www.ticketmaster.com and 1-800-745-3000.

Bardavon member benefits are not available through Ticketmaster. Visit www.bardavon.org for information.

Miles Davis

Guitarist John Scofield and drummer Jack DeJohnette of the band Hudson both performed with jazz legend Miles Davis. So, what’s it like to play with Miles?

“Both of us were really changed by getting to work with him,” Scofield said. “He was, of course,, this larger than life icon...That’s one thing. But we knew Miles as a musician, too.”

Scofield continued, “...His spirit of not expecting anything less than what he thought was greatest of himself, and his other musicians, and his spirit of adventure in the music, and absolute fearlessness, changed me and everyone else who played with him - and, I think, the whole jazz world.”